Jennifer Huston, the beautiful, 38-year-old wife and stay-at-home mom of 2 little boys in Oregon who’s been missing, has been found – dead, about 50 yards from her green SUV, which was discovered by the landowner Vern Clemmers on his private property on a logging road, hidden under a thick canopy of trees in Yamhill County near Sheridan, Oregon.

He thought the SUV might be illegal trespassers and called authorities. The plate matched Jennifer’s SUV and authorities came to investigate, doing a sweep of the area since she was not in the car. She was found dead, about 50 yards from the SUV, in the same clothes she was wearing when she disappeared.

There is a “No Trespassing” sign and a roped gate across the road, which she or someone had to reattach after driving in there. The SUV was facing the same way it came in. Sheridan is about 24 miles from her home. Her missing and her death have made a deep impact on me and on people nationally.

Rural logging road off Highway 18 in Sheridan, where Jennifer’s green SUV was found

Police detectives said there’s no signs of foul play and it doesn’t appear that her death was caused by a car crash. They said they have a “pretty good idea of what happened,” but haven’t released the cause of death yet to the public. An autopsy is being done and the SUV is being processed. I am watching the news continually to get answers about what caused her death. I’ve been obsessed with this story from the start. The whole thing has seemed “off” to me.

Jennifer Huston and family

When I first heard about Jennifer, wife to Kallen and mom of 2 boys ages 6 and 2, who began missing July 24, I began praying.

According to news reports, Jennifer told her husband when he came home that she was going to run errands. Kallen told police and news reporters that the only thing that seemed unusual to him was that she had been having a headache for 3 days.

Fox 12 Oregon News report said that Jennifer went to an ATM outside the Oregon First Community Credit Union in Newburg about 3 miles away to withdraw $100 just before 6 p.m. The last video surveillance of her showed her at Rite-Aid buying Gatorade, Trail Mix, and non-lethal sleeping pills, and buying gas at Circle K gas station.

Many people on social media puzzled and speculated about this purchase and her facial expression…she almost looks like she is smiling. Some of us hide our deepest pain behind a smile or laugh. One forum suggested that someone who is planning to commit suicide has peace about the decision – his or her pain will now be over.

Kallen said at a press conference that Jennifer had no history of mental illness (although she could have been without being diagnosed) nor had known medical problems – just the headache which had lingered 3 days,which he said hadn’t seemed debilitating enough for her to go to the doctor. He said she may have bought the pills to help her get a good night’s rest. He said she didn’t buy sleeping pills a lot, but had used them sometimes for sleep.

Others in the forum wondered if she really was planning to commit suicide. Would someone plan to eat a snack before killing herself/himself? One forum suggested that if her stomach was empty, and she took the sleeping pills, she needed to make sure she wouldn’t vomit the sleeping pills.

However, if she was going to commit suicide, the sleeping pills wouldn’t be strong enough to kill her. Was she taking them with something else, more lethal? Did she have a gun in the SUV and shoot herself? Gunshots were heard by a neighbor of the landowner Vern Clemmens about 2 weeks ago (when she began missing), but he didn’t think much of it since gunshots are common there for hunting deer, etc.

In the video surveillance at Rite-Aid, Jennifer doesn’t appear to be afraid, if someone had been in the car threatening her…or did they get in the car after she went back out and abduct her?

She never answered a text from her mother, which Kallen said on camera was unusual, and her phone went off at 6:45 p.m. Police said the phone battery didn’t die, so it had to be turned off….some speculating she didn’t WANT to be disturbed, or want to be found. Then she disappeared.

Jennifer and son

Where was she? How could she go completely off the grid like this? Why couldn’t police find her SUV?

Had she been abducted? Raped and killed? Sold into human trafficking? Did she become overwhelmed with life, and left her husband and kids? Did she and Kallen have a fight about money, their marriage, the kids, not going to San Juan on vacation like she wanted, and then she said, “I’m out of here!” and killed herself? At the press conference, Kallen said she loved him and the kids, and didn’t indicate a lot of marriage problems. I read on a forum online that they did have an argument about money right before she left the house and disappeared, but I can’t find any news stories online which state this. Did she have a heart attack or stroke/aneurysm, and crash her car, injured, and she was lying in a ditch somewhere, as Kallen thought?

It was keeping me up at night. I prayed for her to be found alive and her safe return. I kept talking about it to my family. They asked me why I was so obsessed with this. I wasn’t alone in this. It was all over Facebook, Twitter, and the news.

Jennifer had captured the heart of the nation. Maybe she just represented the average, every-day wife and mom and we all wanted her to be okay – to know we will all be okay. A prayer vigil was held for her safe return.

Kallen passed the polygraph test and had several interviews by investigators, who said he fully cooperated. Police began a nationwide search. Helicopters were flown over Oregon. Lakes and rivers were searched. There are a lot of valleys and forests there, which makes searching difficult.

The SUV was a 1999 Lexus; if it had been a newer model, they may have been able to GPS locate it.

12 days and she was still gone, but her family wouldn’t give up.

Jennifer and Kallen

Her family created theFind Jennifer Huston Facebook page, andused posters, flyers, and buttons to try to locate her. Bright yellow t-shirts with her picture were made and worn by family and friends. An entire community was looking for her everywhere.

Missing poster to locate Jennifer HustonT-shirt to help find Jennifer

On a press conference, Kallen told her on camera that he and the boys loved her, pleading for her to come home and said if she was being held against her will, to stay strong and they’d never stop looking for her.

Kallen said she was a very good person, a devoted and “very regimented” wife and mother, and it was very out of character for her to do something like this. Her family and friends agreed. Babysitters said she was making plans for their 10-year wedding anniversary.

Jennifer with one of her sons. “A devoted mother”- husband Kallen

People thought they saw her in different places, with one report from a couple that she might have taken a ferry in Anacortes, Northwest Washington to the San Juan Islands, where she’d visited before and loved.

Police didn’t find her there. When I heard of this sighting from a couple, I prayed, “God, please let her be there!” It didn’t matter that she hadn’t called anyone and told them where she was…just let her be alive.

People on social media were saying she had found herself a new man and had run off to the islands, which angered me. Theories were developed as to what had happened to her.

Jennifer’s tearful, frightened parents (woman with glasses and man with white beard and glasses, and Jennifer’s husband Kallen in cap at press conference

I didn’t know this woman or anything about her. She lived in Oregon, far away from me. All I know is that she was a wife and a mom, someone precious to God, and she was missing. She was only a few years older than our oldest daughter, Heather, and had 2 young children like Heather. I would be hysterical if one of our children went missing like this.

Our beautiful daughters Eden, Heather & Leah

I couldn’t imagine what Jennifer’s family and friends were going through emotionally. My heart went out to Kallen as he broke down crying at times on camera, asking for the public’s help to find her, and to her mom in tears, saying something was very wrong, that she’d never leave her children. Her father said they were scared to death.

Jennifer’s husband Kallen

I thought of Jennifer’s kids, not being old enough to understand what was going on and wanting their mommy. Kallen had told them she was on vacation, then told the oldest son after time went on and she hadn’t returned home, that she was missing.

Then he had to tell them their mommy was dead. How absolutely horrible.

On the Facebook page, the family thanked everyone for their help in searching for Jennifer and is now asking for privacy to grieve. I pray the media honors their request and gives them space and time to grieve and heal.

Since the phone was apparently turned off, it may be that Jennifer didn’t want to be bothered and/or found and it looks likely that she committed suicide. But why? The police have said no foul play is involved and there’s no apparent danger to the public. Was there a suicide note? How did she die exactly? Questions remain unanswered.

I’m waiting to hear what the autopsy reveals. I’m praying for her family and her friends. Please keep them in prayer.

“Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there You will guide me, even there You will hold my hand.” Psalm 139:7,9,10

4 thoughts on “Jennifer Huston’s Impact”

Chelle, thanks for sharing. I don’t know if you heard, but they ruled her death a suicide by hanging. The box of pills were also empty. I’m having a free teleseminar tomorrow just to share some encouragement with the family and others. Thank you for commenting. God bless!

I think maybe she wanted to be found but not by family she knew where she was people weren’t going to bother her while she say there to think about things but that she would be found by owners of the property. I dont know though so many unanswered questions

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